Tourism Australia, Singapore Airlines sign 12 mn dollar deal

Melbourne, Nov 10 (PTI) In a bid to tap global overseas travel market, Tourism Australia today announced a new three- year marketing deal worth 12 million dollars with Singapore Airlines to woo foreign tourists, including from India.

Announcing the strategic deal, Tourism Australia said the agreement will see the two countries jointly fund a range of tourism campaigns and promotional activities in seven of Australia’s key inbound markets including India, the UK, Germany and China.

Singapore Airlines will be the exclusive airline partner for all ‘Restaurant Australia’ campaigns in Singapore, India, Indonesia and Malaysia as well as provide international flights for Tourism Australia’s key Corroboree Europe trade event, taking place in Adelaide in 2015.

The strategic partnership with Tourism Australia continues to be key in driving inbound tourism, said Mak Swee Wah of Singapore Airlines.

“As the world competes to attract visitors from key growth markets, Singapore Airlines continues to invest in promoting Australia, building on its long-standing presence and ongoing expansion across the country’s key gateways,” Wah said.

He said combining Tourism Australia’s marketing prowess with Singapore Airlines network reach remained a winning proposition in key target markets to bring travellers to Australia.

“Leveraging the opportunities presented across Europe and Asia in partnership with Tourism Australia enables us to reach better conversion rates and cement Singapore as the optimal gateway hub to Australia,” he said.

According to latest official data, 14,200 visitors from India travelled to Australia during September this year, bringing the total number for the nine months period to 140,400, an increase of 17.8 per cent compared to the same period previous year.